The research, conducted by the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School.shows that inflammation is a crucial and dangerous step in the development of obesity.

Fat Around the Waist

Warwick Medical School researchers Professor F. P. Cappuccio and Dr. M. A. Miller studied a large group of people belonging to three different ethnic groups -- white, South Asian and people of African origin -- and measured a variety of markers of inflammatory activation. They related these to measures of overweight or obesity, such as body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio (WHR).

The study clearly showed that the levels of sE-selectin, a marker of inflammation produced by artery vessel walls, are strongly associated with measures of obesity, and in particular with the amount of fat around the waist. The research found that every 2 percent increase in sE-selectin led to the increase of one unit in Body Mass Index and 0.01 units in waist-hip ratios.

This inflammation can directly trigger thrombosis, heart disease, strokes and diabetes.

Dealing Directly with Inflammation

There have been suggestions from earlier studies of small patient groups that inflammation was significant, but this is the first study to find these results across an unselected population of healthy subjects which covered both sexes and three ethnic groups.

"This study highlights the importance of the activation of the endothelium, the inner layer of the artery vessel wall, in the metabolic processes leading to obesity and cardiovascular disease," Dr. Miller and Professor Cappuccio said. "This observation opens opportunities to develop new treatments that deal directly with inflammation either through diet or drugs."